Karnataka to tweak land-grab law ‘to help farmers’, conservationists cry foul

On Wednesday former law minister TB Jayachandra met farmers protesting against the forest department’s encroachment clearance in Tumkur. He asked a forest department official over the phone to stop boundary trenching. He told the official that the farmers could not take their bullock carts to the land because of the work and that it would affect their areca nut plantations.

“Till today no one has updated this as forest land. Some are bringing up notifications as old as maharajas’ period to claim this is forest land. Now you are filing a case at the land-grabbing court. I was the one who laid the foundation stone for this court as law minister. Just filing a case will not make the farmers leave their land. Farmers will give their lives for the land. If you still want the land, you may have to poison all the farmers and grab the land. I am aware of all the facts here. I request you to save the farmer’s land,” the minister told the official over the phone.

Responding to the developments, a senior forest official said, “I can only say that if such encroachments are regularised, there is no need of the forest department itself. We face heavy resistance in removing encroachments.”

Wildlife conservationist Joseph Hoover said that lawmakers seldom discussed the need to conserve forests. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to increase India’s forest cover and biodiversity. He says so! But some lawmakers in Karnataka are hell-bent on either destroying or snatching forest landscapes. We must ask HK Patil, BS Yediyurappa, Siddaramaiah, Madhuswamy and their like-minded brethren in the legislature if they have ever made an effort to increase forest cover in Karnataka. Would they give away portions of their personal property for the benefit of people? There are frequent debates in the Assembly over giving away forest land and legalising encroachments,” he said.

Environment lawyer Veerendra Patil commented that the government could not bypass the existing law. “Forests are on the concurrent list. So this gives power to the Union government along with state governments. How can the state government bring in such amendments that will allow encroachments on forest land? To me, such statements appear to be political and there is a conflict of interest,” he said.

Over 1,77997.58 acres of forest land has been encroached on in the state. According to the forest department, there have been 101,017 cases of encroachment of below 3 acres and above 3 acres of forest land over which action is yet to be taken. There have been 38,012 cases of encroachment of forest land below 3 acres in the Shivamogga circle, in which 50,579.53 acres have been encroached on.